The war disabled who are fit for civil jobs in Central Government Departments are eligible on priority for employment against groups 'C' and 'D' posts. Their recruitment is made through the Directorate General of Employment and Training. They can also avail of the benefit of loan assistance on liberalised terms under self-employment schemes to set up Khadi and village industries in rural areas, small scale service enterprises, agriculture and allied activity.

Besides, Queen Mary Technical Institute, Pune, a private charitable institution, conducts ITI recognised vocational training courses for disabled ex-servicemen to facilitate their rehabilitation. In addition, Homes at Kirkee and Mohali are being run for paraplegic and tetraplegic ex-servicemen. Disabled soliders are also provided artificial limbs by Artificial Limbs Centres.

The disabled ex-servicemen are given war injury pension at the rate of reckonable emoluments last drawn if the degree of disability is 100 per cent and this is proportionately reduced if the disability is less than 100 per cent. The disabled officers/Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks, invalidated for service are covered under the Army Group Insurance Scheme for insurance amount ranging from rupees 80,000 to rupees 4 lakh in the case of officers and rupees 37,500 to rupees 1,87,500 in the case of Junior Commissioned Officers/Other Ranks, depending upon the level of disability.

The Armed Forces personnel boarded out of service due to injuries sustained in Kargil operation have been given ex-gratia grant from National Defence Fund. The ex-gratia ranges from rupees three lakh to six lakh depending upon the level of injuries. They have also been granted rupees five lakh from this fund for acquiring a dwelling unit or for renovating the existing unit.

This was stated by the Defence Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh in reply to a question by Mr Rajaiah Malyala in Lok Sabha.

The government has approved, in principle, a proposal to raise thirty new battalions of Rashtriya Rifles over a period of five years at the rate of six battalions per year from 2000-2001 to 2004-2005, subject to an annual review each year prior to actual raising. These new battalions are being raised for relieving the regular Army units which have been deployed for counter-insurgency duties along with the para-military forces in the J&K state. The anticipated expenditure for this planned raising is rupees 575 crore initially and rupees 545 crore for annual maintenance. This expenditure is not avoidable in the context of the security imperatives that face the nation. However, this expenditure is not at the cost of development projects which are funded in their own right and priority.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Defence, Mr U V Krishanam Raju in a written reply to Mr Maheshwar Singh and others in Lok Sabha.

The proportionate increase in Defence budget in the current financial year in comparison to the past five years is indicated below :

                                                                                                                  (Rs. in crores)

1996-1997                           29505.08                                                 9.86

1997-1998                           35277.99                                               19.57

1998-1999                           39897.58                                               13.10

1999-2000                           47070.63                                               17.98

2000-2001(RE)                    54460.91                                               15.70

2001-2002(BE)                    62000.00                                               13.84

Modernising the Armed Forces is a continuous process which interalia includes acquisition of new platforms and weapon systems, upgradation of existing ones and induction of force multipliers.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Defence, Mr U V Krishnam Raju in a written reply to Prof M Sankaralingam in Rajya Sabha.

Based on the technologies developed under Agni technology demonstrator project, Agni-II has been successfully developed, flight-tested and has entered into limited series production. Agni-II missile is planned to be inducted into the Armed Forces during 2001-2002.

A feasibility study for air-to-air missile Astra has been undertaken after the completion of which a project for development of Astra missile is planned to be undertaken. Development of this missile is likely to take about seven to eight years.

This was stated by the Defence Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh in reply to a question by Mr Shankersinh Vaghela in Lok Sabha.

A high-level committee for defence cooperation exists between India and France. The committee was established in 1998 primarily to give impetus to the development of bilateral defence relations and identify specific areas of cooperation between the Armed Forces’ production and research organisations. In its fourth meeting in New Delhi, discussions were held on the construction of submarines, collaborative research on radars and other defence issues. No agreement or contract has, however, been signed.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Defence, Mr U V Krishnam Raju in a written reply to Mr A P Jithender Reddy and others in Lok Sabha.

No proposal to pave the way for a complete take-over of cantonment areas’ civic administration by the Army is under consideration of the government. However, an exercise has been undertaken for streamlining the administration of cantonments, better management of Defence Estates and bringing about greater efficiency and cost effectiveness in running the various organisations including the Indian Defence Estates Service/Military Engineering Service under Ministry of Defence. A committee has been constituted to go into the various issues involved.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Defence, Mr U V Krishnam Raju in a written reply to Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad in Rajya Sabha.

Certain shortcomings in performance of Composite Net Radio (CNR) project have been noticed during the recent trials. Improved CNR is planned to be offered for trials by the end of year 2001. The project has an anti-jammer communication system. The CNR, when fielded, will provide a secured means of communication to the Services.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Defence, Mr U V Krishnam Raju in a written reply to Mr Raghunath Jha in Lok Sabha.

The Government had constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to thoroughly review the national security system in its entirety and, in particular, to consider the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee and formulate specific proposals for implementation. The GoM had, after careful consideration of various issues formulated a comprehensive report titled "Reforming the National Security System" which was presented to the Prime Minister on February 26, 2001. The recommendations that will result in integration of Services with Ministry of Defence are establishment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Defence Procurement Board, Defence Intelligence Agency, Integrated HQs of Ministry of Defence and enhanced delegation of administrative powers to integrated HQs. The implementation of the recommendations of the GoM has already commenced. In order to ensure that the recommendations are implemented in a time-bound manner, the implentation process is being closely monitored by the government.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Defence, Mr U V Krishnam Raju in written reply to Mr Villas Muttemwar and Mr T M K Selvaganpathi in Lok Sabha.

About 80 acres of land is held by Ministry of Defence at Red Fort, Delhi. The Army proposes to hand over rampart and wall quarters, presently under its occupation to Archaelogoical Survey of India (ASI). Eight shops at Red Fort under the control of Army are also proposed to be handed over to ASI after the unauthorised occupants of these shops are evicted. Modalities for the same are being worked out by the concerned Army authorities.

This was stated by the Defence Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh in reply to a question by Mr S D N R Wadiyar in Lok Sabha.